Civil War: House of M #1Review

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Magneto's rise to power is revealed as Marvel returns to this alternate reality.

By Jesse Schedeen

Every so often, I'll open a review by questioning what audience a publisher is trying to target with the series in question. Civil War: House of M is definitely one of those. Three years after House of M concluded, who really cares revisiting this particular alternate reality? I could understand last year's House of M: Avengers, at last, because that allowed Christos Gage to play around with numerous characters who never appeared in the main story. The end result wasn't stunning in any way, but it was reasonably entertaining. With Civil War, however, Gage is expanding on a story that was pretty clearly laid out already. There's the central problem - who really cares?

This issue comes across as particularly weak because, as a alternate recounting of Magneto's origin, it also has to go up against Greg Pak's Magneto: Testament this week. While Civil War has the superior art, Testament has by far the stronger script. Gage's story glosses over Magneto's formative years, advancing him to the status of mutant leader in about half an issue. There are certain breaks from the conventionally accepted Magneto origin, but rarely does anything new occur to hold my interest.

The second half of the story sees Magneto gain followers and begin to consolidate power. A partnership between Mags and Apocalypse quickly degenerates into a rivalry. This sequence really should have been the highlight of the issue, particularly the ultimate clash of titans. Instead, it just made me dislike Apocalypse a little more. Bear in mind, this is a villain who has precious little cache with me as it is. The one question I wanted this series to answer was why Apocalypse was willing to stay subservient to Magneto for so many decades. I guess the question is answered here, but not convincingly.

It's fortunate Andrea Di Vito was available for this series, because its straits are dire enough without the art also dragging the book down. Di Vito's work is generally strong. His panels flow clearly and neatly. However, his normally strong figure work is a bit diminished. House of M: Avengers didn't necessarily bring out the best in Mike Perkins either, so I suppose that jut comes with the territory.

Ultimately, the very title of this series seems to betray Marvel's own lack of faith in it. House of M is supposed to be the main title, not the subtitle. Perhaps Civil War has more brand recognition, but if the House of M name can't sell books any longer, then maybe this project was ill-advised from the start.